Harvester-binder



.(No Model.)

W. R. COATS. Harvester Binder.

No. 241,931. Patented May 24, I881.

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UNITE STATES PATENT Oriana.

WILLIAM R. COATS, OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN.

HARVESTER-BINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,931, dated May 24, 1881.

Application filed January 17, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM It. COATS, of the village and county of Kalamazoo and State of Michigan, have invented an Improvement in Grain-Binders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the construction of a frame carrying a spool or bobbin of a grainbinder, and upon which the wine or other material used for bands is wound, and from which such wire or other material is fed, and a tension device, by means of which such wire or other material is fed or taken off under an equal strain or tension, notwithstanding the variation in the size of the coil on the bobbin or spool.

The invention consists in the peculiarconstruction of the various parts with their various combinations and operations, all as more fully hereinafter described.

In grain-binders where wire fed from a spool or bobbin is employed for hands it is necessary to employ some device to obtain a strain or tension, to prevent the wire from being reeled off too freely, and also to'secure the necessary tightness of the bands of the bundles being bound. This restraining force, which it is found necessary to apply to the spool or bobbin in order to produce the needed tensional strain upon the wire or twine fed by such spool or bobbin, needs to be so applied as to constantly follow and act harmoniously with the changing condition of the wire or twine upon the spool or bobbin, the diameter of which is constantly lessening.

My improvement is designed to accomplish this desirable object, and in it I construct the parts so that the empty spool may be removed and a new one substituted more readily than has heretofore been the case in grain-binder tensions.

Figure l is a vertical central longitudinal section, showing my frame, spool, and tension device. Fig.2 is a detail perspective view, showing the upper end of standard, tension-spring and jaws, and follower-spring guide. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the front face of tension-wheel plate.

In the accompanying drawings, which form (No model.)

a part of this specification, A represents a metallic frame, designed to be secured in any proper way to, and in proper place on, the harvester. This frame carries the round bar B, upon which is sleeved the thimble O, which is provided with a small wheel, D, and a larger wheel, E. The wheel D is provided with one or more spurs, a, and will hereinafter be termed a clutch-wheel, while thewheel E will in like manner he termed a friction-wheel. The spool or bobbin F is sleeved upon the thimble G, and is provided with two heads, I) c, the latter of which is provided with one or more perforations, which, when the spool is in place, engage with the spnr or spurs (0, whereby the rotary motion of the spool is communicated to the thimble O and its clutch and friction wheels.

One part of the frame A extends upward, and forms the slotted standard G, to which the slide H is secured so as to have a free vertically-reciprocating movement, guided by the bolts d, which pass through the slots 6, and the parts are retained in their relative positions by the nuts d. An adjusting thumb-screw, I, passes through the slide H, near its top. The slide H is provided with a pair of ears, 1', projecting outwardly near its vertical center, and its lower extremity terminates in an outwardlyprojecting flange, 0. A spring, J, at the lower end terminates in an inwardly projecting flange, 8, upon the same vertical and horizontal line with the flange 0, so that the two flanges, when the parts are in place, will form a pair of friction-jaws, one bearing on each face of the friction-wheel E. This spring is provided with an ear, i, by means of which and a suitable pin or bolt it is pivotally secured to the ears of the slide. The thumb-screw I enables the operator to regulate the pressure of the flange 8 upon the face of the friction-wheel, as may be necessary. Theupper end of this spring is curved, as shown, to return upon itself, thereby forming another spring, L, the lower end of which terminates in an inwardly-projecting flange, a, which is designed to rest against the inner face of the bobbin-head c. This spring L performs the double function of a follower to prevent a too fast drawing downward of the tension device, and to hold the bobbin 0n the ICO thimble and in engagement with the clutchwheel, as will be more fully explained.

In practice, the frame A being properly secured, the slide H is pushed upward, the nuts (1 being loose enough to allow this to be done freely until the flanges 0, s, and u are above the horizontal plane of the upper edges of the spool-heads b c. The bobbin or spool, being filled with wire, is slipped on the thimble and engaged with the clutch-wheel. The slide,with its attachments, is then slipped down until the flange a rests against the inner face of the spool-head c and upon the wire coil on said spool. At this time, and at all times when in operation,the vertical line through the center of gravity of the slide and its attachments is directly vertical to or at right angles with the axis of the bar B and the thimble G sleeved upon it. The tension required should be regulated by the thumb-screw l. A little experience will soon enable the operator to do this readily.

By this construction the spool is held in place upon the sleeve by the guide 1., and it is only necessary to move the friction device until the guide is clear of the spool,when the latter can he slipped off, leaving the friction device still on thefriction-wheel, and upon slipping another spool on the sleeve the guide, when placed in position, will hold this spool in contact with the clutch-wheel, so as to compel the two to travel together.

The use of a separate friction-wheel with the friction device traveling toward its center allows of a variety of diti'erent spools being used without any change in the adjustment of the tension, because the spring-guide L need not be sut'lieiently still to have much frictional effect, its main use being to regulate the position of the friction device upon the wheel E, and tokeep the spool upon the thimhle or spoolcarrier (J.

The space left between the friction-wheel I5 and clutch-wheel D allows the friction-flange 8 to pass down as low on the wheel as the guide L can pass down on the barrel of the spool, whereas if no such space is left between the two wheels the tension device could not approach so near to the center of the axis of the spool.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a grain-binder attachment, an automatically-acting tension having two or more friction-surfaces moving simultaneously, one of which acts on the friction-wheel and another on the head of the spool, the latter resting on the binding material and following it down as it is drawn ot't',whereby the tension is equalized at all times, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a grain-binder attachment,0f the following elements: aspindle supported in a suitable frame, a spool-carrier provided with a friction-wheel, a spool constructed and arranged to travel with said carrier, an adjustable friction device constructed to approach the center of the wheel as the binding material unwinds, and a guide connected to the friction device and resting on the binding material, all substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, in a grain-binder attachment,ot' the following elements: a spindle supported in a suitable frame, a spool'carrier provided with a friction-wheel, a spool constructed and arranged to travel with said carrier, an adjustable friction device constructed to automatically approach the center of the wheel as the binding material uuwinds, and a guide connected with the friction device and bearing against the head of the spool and on the binding material, whereby the spool is held securely in place and the tension equalized, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a grain-bimler attachment, of the following elements; a spindle supported in a suitable frame, a spool-carrier provided with a friction-wheel, a spool constructed to travel with said spool-carrier and having a head of smaller diameter than the friction wheel, an adjustible friction device pressing on the friction-wheel and constructed to automatically approach its center as the bindingmaterial unwinds, and a guide resting on the binding material and pressing against the head of the spool, whereby the spool may be readily removed without removing the friction device from the friction-wheel, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the sleeve 0, running on a suitable spindle and having the frictionwheel E and clutch -wheel D, a friction-surface workingbetwcen said wheels, and the spool F, moving with sleeve 0, and held thereon by the guide L, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

6. In combination,in a grain-binder attachment, a frame, A, thimble 0, having a frictionw heel, E, and sleeved upon a bar, B, a spool, F, sleeved upon and revolving with said thimble, astandard, G, slide H, thumb-screw I, and sprin gJ, the parts being constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. In combination, in a grain-binder attachment, a frame, A, bar B, thimble 0, having frictional wheel E, spool F, standard Gr, slide H, spring J, and guide-spring L, the parts being constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

\VILLIAM It. COATS.

Witnesses:

H. S. SPRAGUE, E. SCULLY. 

